Today is the tenth anniversary of the ‘Doctor Who’ revivial. And it’s hella easy to say that this show has literally (not figuratively; literally) changed my life.
But it wasn’t ‘Doctor Who’ that started it. Nor did it even start close to ten years ago. More like seven. The way I discovered the show was even a fluke. Because I didn’t discover ‘Doctor Who.’ I discovered ‘Torchwood.’
It was late January, and I was scrolling through my Facebook feed like usual when I glimpsed an article with an image of two men kissing. Being a young gay single bored college student, that’s pretty much all I needed to become intrigued.
The article was about a recent episode of the series entitled “Captain Jack Harkness.” I had no idea what they were talking about (a guy meets the man he stole his name from, in the past? What? ) except that it was two dudes mackin’ it. And there was a video.
I ended up watching the entire first series in just a few short days. I thought it was one of the most brilliant things I’d ever seen. My only disappointment came when I finished the series and there wasn’t more to watch!
But then this guy I’d become close with in one of my classes mentioned that ‘Torchwood’ was only a spin-off, and there was another series called ‘Doctor Who’ that I might want to look into. I later married that guy because of what a good suggestion it was. (Plus lots of other reasons.)
To say I was instantly hooked would be an understatement, because I watched seven episodes that first night and I didn’t start until about 8pm. I could go on and on about how much I love the show, but there will be plenty more blog posts like that down the line, don’t you worry. That’s not what this post is about.
It’s about discovery.
Like I said, this show has changed my life. In so, so, so many ways. And the way I discovered the franchise was a total fluke. A happy accident. Maybe it was inevitable, like I’d have come across it one way or another. Maybe not.
You can’t predict when you’re going to find the next thing big thing, whether it’s a fifty-year epic franchise or a fledgling webcomic. (See how I made it about us in the end?) So my advice is to always keep an open mind, and an open heart.
You never know when a random image in your newsfeed of two dudes kissing may change your life.
